The NCAA basketball season tips off on Tuesday night with a slew of intriguing games. We’ve got the full rundown for you in the opening week, including the top college basketball games to bet on.
No. 4 Duke Blue Devils at No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats
Odds: Kentucky -2
Tuesday, November 8th
All eyes will be on the Duke-Kentucky matchup on opening night. These two schools brought in the top recruiting classes this season. Of course, Duke’s Zion Williamson will be the star of the show as he’s expected to be one of the most talented players we’ve seen in a long time. However, Kentucky has more experience with Reid Travis and a trio of sophomores. That should be the difference in this contest as Duke will probably need a few games to figure everything out. They have three talented freshmen of their own, but it’s a tough test for a team that hasn’t played together just yet.
Ohio State Buckeyes at Cincinnati Bearcats
Wednesday, November 7th
These two schools combined to win three straight national championships from 1960 through 1962. They met in back-to-back national title games in 1961 and 1962. They met in the 2012 NCAA Tournament East Regional semifinals in Boston. Ohio State won that game and moved onto the Final Four.
Last year, Cincinnati was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and Ohio State was a No. 5 seed. Both teams have coaches known for teaching rugged half-court defense: Mick Cronin of Cincinnati and Chris Holtmann of OSU. This is a rivalry rich in history, but isn’t often played in the regular season. The most memorable games between these schools have occurred in March. The rare nature of these teams’ meetings is a big part of what makes this game so interesting and mysterious.
Arkansas Razorbacks at Texas Longhorns
Friday, November 9th
This used to be a huge game between conference opponents in the old Southwest Conference of the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was the Midwest Regional final in the 1990 NCAA Tournament. Arkansas won and moved advanced to the Final Four. This year, Arkansas and Texas are under pressure not just to make the NCAA Tournament, but to win a game once they get there. Both teams lost in the first round last year – Arkansas against Butler, and Texas against Nevada. Both coaches, Mike Anderson of Arkansas and Shaka Smart of Texas, arrived at their schools accompanied by a lot of fanfare, but both have fallen short of expectations thus far. Anderson has spent several years more than Smart has at his current school, but that doesn’t mean Smart faces less pressure. This is a huge test for both teams early in the season. The losing coach will really feel the heat.
Missouri Tigers at Iowa State Cyclones
Friday, November 9th
This is a game Iowa State should probably win, for one basic reason. Missouri star Jontay Porter – brother of NBA Draft pick Michael Porter – was injured and knocked out for the season earlier this autumn. Not having Porter robs Missouri of a centerpiece scorer who was expected to carry much of the workload. Iowa State will be expected to win, but expectations can carry a lot of pressure early in the season. The Cyclones will get an early measurement of how they handle a situation in which they are supposed to win.
No. 25 Washington Huskies at No. 11 Auburn Tigers
Friday, November 9th
Both these teams overachieved last season – Washington did far better than anyone expected under first-year coach Mike Hopkins, who used the 2-3 zone defense he learned under Jim Boeheim as an assistant coach at Syracuse. Hopkins now has another season in which to tweak and alter his zone to confuse opposing offenses.
Auburn won the SEC championship last year under Bruce Pearl, who put together a resilient team that thrived despite having two star players ruled ineligible by the NCAA relative to concerns connected to an FBI investigation. Auburn should still have a deep team this season, and now those two stars, Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy, are eligible for the 2018-2019 season. Auburn has great reason to think it can be even better than last season.
Vanderbilt Commodores at USC Trojans
Sunday, November 11th
This is a game between teams which are expected to make the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt has landed two five-star recruits and seems poised to take a big step forward under second-year coach Bryce Drew. USC barely missed its third straight NCAA Tournament last season but has hauled in a highly-rated recruiting class under coach Andy Enfield. These teams are very young and therefore don’t know what to expect. Neither do bettors or fans. This feels like a coin-flip game.
